Erdogan criticizes court ruling after lifting Twitter ban

ISTANBUL - Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticised a constitutional court ruling lifting a ban on Twitter, saying the court should have rejected an application to restore access to the micro-blogging site.

"We complied with the ruling but I do not respect it," Erdogan told reporters at a news conference before departing on a trip to Azerbaijan. "It should have been rejected on procedural grounds."

Access to Twitter was blocked on March 21 in the run-up to local elections and Turkey's telecoms authority lifted the two-week-old ban on Thursday after the court ruled the block breached freedom of expression.